We like to think that the resurrection solved everything for the disciples. Sadly, it did not. It takes time for our minds to focus away from the all-consuming grief that comes from our witnessing death, or hearing word of it. In Mark’s gospel, the women prepare to anoint a dead body, and are more concerned with how they will roll the burial stone away. They arrive to find that the problem has been solved for them. Having heard news from the angel that Jesus has risen, they leave not in joy but in confusion, terror, and fear, tinged with amazement. In Mark’s gospel we read how the other women were so overcome with mourning and weeping that when Mary tells them that Jesus is alive, they will not believe. In John’s gospel, Mary Magdalene assumes that someone had stolen the body. Her grief is so locked in that even when Jesus speaks to her, she does not recognise him. Not until He says her name. Whilst He does break through with Mary, the disciples – let’s not forget that the women were disciples as well – were in death mode, unable to comprehend what had happened. Who can blame them?
As I walked through Good Friday to Easter Sunday, a phrase would not leave my mind. ‘Let go of the grave clothes’. Whilst I admit that there is no scriptural reference to support this (the grave clothes are visible in John’s account, but no one touches them), I would suggest that this is an important principle. There is, arguably, a link with Mary who embraces Jesus, leaving Jesus to say, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father’. Without seeming to be disrespectful, I am not sure that Jesus is saying that He has so much power in him from the resurrection that Mary is likely to get a lightning bolt if she holds on for any longer. I think it is to do with how the Jesus she is clinging to is far too human in her mind to be of any earthly use. So, ‘Let go of me Mary.’ Or to put it another way, let go of the grave clothes (which were admittedly whiter than white).
This is my word for you, for your church, for us as a circuit. So often, the Jesus we look to, even when we know Him to be resurrected, is far to earthly in our minds to be of any heavenly use. Our God is too small. We are so locked into the expectations of decline and death, that we have little hope of realising the resurrection. And yet Jesus is so much more, and offers us so much more than we can perceive. In our lives, in our churches, in our circuit, we can so often be clinging on to the grave clothes to preserve what has been, rather than looking to Jesus who promises are new way of life; a new way of doing things that will yield results that are far beyond our expectation. The Kingdom of Heaven is come here on earth. Let go of the grave clothes.
God bless you this Easter.